It was from a mutual online friend that I learned about the passing of a World Music pioneer Dan Storper, and through that news I learned a bit about his life and how he came to found the Putumayo World Music label. The company Facebook page posted this remembrance:
We are sad to share that Dan Storper, the beloved founder of Putumayo, passed away on the morning of May 22, two days after his 74th birthday. Dan had been battling pancreatic cancer for some time and was with his close family in New Orleans when his song came to an end.
Dan shared his passion for music and cultural diversity with the world and we believe he helped make it a better place. He touched the lives of so many people and those who knew him will remember him as a good soul with a kind heart, a positive spirit and a great sense of humor. He will be deeply missed.
His friend spoke of how he had first launched Putumayo clothing with a partner in Maine because of their shared love of textiles and travel. It was apparently an amazing store, but after she passed, he let go of that business and started the music label.
Elsewhere on this blog, I make much of the role of David Byrne in launching world music, even as he came ultimately to accept some important critiques of it. But through Putumayo, Dan Storper was equally important in connecting people around the world through their music.
It was in 2007 that I learned this while walking through a shopping mall in Managua, Nicaragua. I had already been collecting some of the label's CDs, most of which featured an array of artists from a given country at that time. Later, each anthology would include contributions across borders with a shared theme or musical style.
What I noticed in the mall that day, however, was that at least for middle-class shoppers, the label was bringing music of the developing world to listeners in the developing world itself. In this way, Storper played a role in making the planet sing!
No comments:
Post a Comment